I Need Input

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I am currently taking 4 regular classes, and soon a "block" class will start. A block class is a semester's worth of work in half the time, so when it starts, I'll have five classes this semester.

My G.P.A. is currently crap, partly because I did not study as much as I could've in the past. It's gotten to the point that I am losing financial aid. My school tells people that for every hour of class, you should do two hours of studying outside of class. Most people don't, but I basically have to this semester. With my 4 classes, that's about 40 hours a week with class & studying combined, about 50 hours once my block class starts. This is one of the reasons I do not have a job.

Some people tell me I might do better in school if I take three classes, and have a part time job or something. In the past, the thought of going to school anything less than full time scared me, since I would then receive less financial aid. However, I'm not only losing financial aid anyway, but a bad G.P.A. can have more ramifications than just financial aid, and a part time job can make up for lost financial aid. Another thing I thought about is taking summer and/or intersession classes. That way, I can hopefully get the same number of credits, just spread out instead of crammed into 8 months.

Has anyone done this? What are your thoughts on this?

This is just my personal opinion. I would personally prioritize financial aid and GPA and do everything to keep it up. Have you been able to do do well in the classes you are currently taking? Since it sounds like you haven't studied much in the past, I know from experience that it can be a huge adjustment and it may not be the best idea to pile on so many courses at once before you've really gotten a handle on studying and are sure you can handle the work load. The block class thing in particular sounds really rough since it is on an accelerated schedule. Taking summer courses does certainly help with work load during the year, but it does cost a lot of extra money so it's really more of a financial decision than anything. Also usually only a small number of courses are offered in the summer so you have to make sure that everything you need is available then.

Since I'm studying, I've been doing okay in my classes.

I've e-mailing my block class teacher for a while, and he says I'm probably the only one in his class who understands how hard a block class is going to be. (I was aiming for the full semester class, but by the time I was allowed to register, it was full.) Another plus, my block teacher tried to convince the higher ups to make it a semester-long class.

You're right about limited summer classes and having to pay for them myself, so I'll probably just take gen eds over the summer.

For now, I will wait and see. If I don't make good grades this semester or don't like my course load for next semester, then I will probably decrease it.